The recently launched Gas Control Module for the Infi nite® 200 PRO is off ering researchers at the University of Salzburg a new approach to the investigation of cellular processes, allowing incubation of cells within the reader for the fi rst time.

The Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares has developed Automatic Genomics, a software application that enables automation of medium throughput qPCR assays on the Freedom EVO® liquid handling platform.

Euroscreen is a pre-clinical drug discovery company based in Gosselies, Belgium, focusing on development of small molecule drugs for unmet clinical needs. Specializing in G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), Euroscreen works with a number of major pharmaceutical manufacturers to develop and optimize fi rst-in-class candidate compounds targeting GPCRs. In addition to its research activities, Euroscreen also operates a high throughput screening (HTS) service (Euroscreen FAST) providing customized GPCR screening and services for biotechnology companies and pharmaceutical manufacturers worldwide.

Tecan has partnered with Sword Diagnostics, a leader in detection chemistries, to optimize the sensitivity of immunoassays using the patented Sword™ Detection System on the flexible Infinite® M200 and Infinite M1000 microplate readers.

In the last Tecan Journal we announced that Dr Francisco Quintana from the Harvard Medical School had become the first ever winner of the Tecan Detection Award. Dr Quintana’s laboratory is using a range of Tecan instruments – including a HS 4800™ Pro hybridization station, a PowerScanner™ and an Infinite® F200 microplate reader – as part of a systems biology approach to studying the role of the immune response in multiple sclerosis.

Tecan continuously strives to provide quality consumables which meet the changing needs of life sciences research. The recent trend towards high content, cell-based screening has seen an increase in demand for automation of this type of assay, and Tecan now off ers disposable tips for Freedom EVO liquid handling (LiHa) arms in Tecan Sterile purity.

This year’s ALA LabAutomation Conference celebrated 15 years of bringing together science, technology and industry to showcase the latest developments in laboratory automation. Held in Palm Springs Convention Center, California, this annual event provides a unique opportunity to meet like-minded colleagues from around the world, while exploring exciting new developments in laboratory automation. With attendance up on last year, Tecan enjoyed another successful exhibition, and customers old and new visited the Tecan booth to discover the Company’s latest offerings for the life science sector.

Tecan has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Attana AB – a leading manufacturer of quartz crystal microbalance biosensor instruments – for the distribution, service and support of Attana’s instruments and assay technology in North America.

The Genesis workstation has been superseded by our more powerful Freedom EVO® platform and, from January 2012, we will no longer be providing support for the Genesis. Last year, many customers took advantage of our special off er to make the transition to Freedom EVO workstations, and our network of service and application specialists has been working closely with these customers to ensure this change has been as smooth as possible.

Earlier this year we launched a competition inviting you to show us how much you love your Tecan and win a party for your team. We have received some great, creative photos showing just how important Tecan systems are to your teams, a selection of which are illustrated. We hope you enjoy working with your instruments as much as we love making them for you.

Scientists working in the diagnostic serology department of the Laboratorio Tre Valli, Italy, rely on a Freedom EVO® liquid handling platform to monitor the health of livestock and ensure the quality of their food products.

Tethis has automated its microFIND™ technology by adapting a Freedom EVO® liquid handling platform with accessories to accommodate the characteristics of this microfluidic device. The resulting system, known as autoFIND-F75, provides an affordable way of performing large scale FISH screening of cytological specimens.

Researchers at The Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Natural Products, Jinan University, China, are using a Tecan multimode microplate reader to investigate the mechanism of immunosuppression caused by stress, aiming to discover effective natural solutions.

The inaugural Tecan Detection Award, designed to celebrate our customers’ innovation and ingenuity, received many strong entries. A very close contest eventually saw Dr Jeff Mumm from Georgia Health Sciences University (GHSU), US, awarded second place for his work on reporter-based drug screening using Tecan’s Infi nite® M1000 and live zebrafish!

The Clinical Pharmacology Department in the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU), Bangkok, has achieved huge time saving with its Freedom EVO® platform from Tecan, reducing time taken for sample preparation from five hours manually to just 20 minutes.